| A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO VISION PROBLEMS | ||||||
| You do more than teach | There's much more to
teaching than meets the eye. You impart knowledge and strive to
stimulate a desire to learn. When a student is having difficulty,
you try to help him or her acquire skills needed for learning.
Many of those learning-related skills are vision skills. As a teacher, you are in a unique position to detect symptoms of learning-related vision problems in your students. These problems are not detectable by a school eye chart test. They also can be overlooked during a quick eye examination used to tell whether or not a child needs glasses. Yet symptoms often appear when a child tries to use his or her vision in the classroom. This happens during at least 80 to 90 percent of the school day and you are the key observer. |
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| What you can do | Following is a checklist of symptoms of learning-related vision problems. Record your observations of a student on it and then discuss them with the school nurse and parents. | |||||
| TEACHER'S CHECKLIST | ||||||||
| BEHAVIORAL INDICATIONS OF POSSIBLE VISION DIFFICULTY | ||||||||
| YES | NO | |||||||
| Dislike or avoidance of close work. | ||||||||
| Short attention span for the child's age or frequent daydreaming. | ||||||||
| Turning/tilting head to use one eye only or closing or covering one eye. | ||||||||
| Placing head close to book or desk when reading or writing. | ||||||||
| Excessive blinking or rubbing of eyes. | ||||||||
| Losing place while reading or using finger or marker to guide eyes. | ||||||||
| Trouble finishing written timed assignments. | ||||||||
| Difficulty remembering what is read. | ||||||||
| Omitting, repeating and miscalling words or confusing similar words. | ||||||||
| Persistent reversals after second grade. | ||||||||
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Difficulty remembering, indentifying and reproducing basic
geometric forms. |
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| Difficulty with sequential concepts. | ||||||||
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Poor eye-hand coordination when copying form chalkboard, throwing or catching a ball, buttoning or unbuttoning clothing or tying shoes. |
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| Displaying evidence of developmental immaturity. | ||||||||
| COMPLAINTS ASSOCIATED WITH USING THE EYES | ||||||||
| Headaches, nausea and dizziness. | ||||||||
| Blurring of vision at any time. | ||||||||
| Double vision. | ||||||||
| Burning or itching eyes. | ||||||||
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Please
print out this page and complete the form below so the optometrist
|
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